Take a train ride down memory lane in Warren

WARREN

Riverside Railroad Club members aren’t ashamed to admit that they play with toys.

Darrin Warren, 46, of Fowler, and Mike Zador, 61, of Warren, founded the club in 2002 after meeting at the SCOPE Center, at 220 W. Market St., in Warren.

Warren said he and Zador shared a mutual appreciation for model trains and wanted to create something they could share with other enthusiasts.

“The most-motivating factor that draws people in is nostalgia,” Warren said. “They remember the trains going through the city when they were younger, and end up collecting the models.”

Zador said the space behind the SCOPE Center ended up being the perfect location to build the track.

“I looked out the back window here, and it was overgrown and ugly,” he said. “So we got with the SCOPE director, and 12 years later, this is what our little train set has turned into.”

The track’s layout stretches across an area that is about 100-by-50-foot in a fenced-in space beside the SCOPE Center, as well as an additional 25-by-50-foot area behind the building, Warren said.

Read more about the club and its working exhibit in Tuesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com